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It’s a shame people still don’t know who the late Eva Cassidy is. The singer and guitarist became a posthumous star in 1998 but unfortunately, while alive, she was totally unknown outside her Washington D.C. area home. Two years after her passing at age thirty-three from melanoma, her golden singing voice was discovered by two BBC disc jockeys who heard her versions of "Over the Rainbow" and Sting's "Fields of Gold." She went on to have great popularity in Britain where she earned three number one records that sold over ten million copies combined. A compilation, Songbird , put together from her three CDs was released in 1998 but Cassidy's work continued to exist in complete obscurity here at home until ABC-TV's Nightline televised a brief segment about her. The weekend after the program aired all of her albums soared to the top of Amazon's best sellers list. The disc went platinum in 2008. Five songs from Songbird ("Wade in the Wate...

One of the more fascinating devices Chicago's Robert Lamm employed on a few of his political songs was not taking sides. It's one of the components of the keyboard player's writing that helped make him Chicago's best composer. Nevertheless, Lamm has always possessed strong opinions and anyone who has been a fan of Chicago over the years knows which side he leans toward politically. The best example of Lamm's seeming neutrality is the band's hit single, "Dialogue," from 1972. The song is a conversation between two college students represented by Terry Kath and Peter Cetera, each espousing a different point of view. The lyrics are more about apathy and not being involved than any specific ideology and, to his credit, Lamm never reveals his hand. The same can be said for Lamm's 1977 album track from Chicago XI , "Vote For Me." It's an uptempo, joyous sounding, pop song featuring a gospel chorus on which a presidential candidate ...

As a movie offering us a good love story La La Land easily satisfies. Actors Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are excellent and they have a great rapport with each other. They look and act like a real couple, something that is a must for a romantic film to be successful. This best film nominee of 2016 is well paced and looks great. Both things can be attributed to Damien Chazelle who is quickly establishing himself as a fine director. Much of the plot of La La Land is driven by Gosling's character who is an aspiring jazz musician. Chazelle is also the man behind the award winning Whiplash , a 2014 film about a jazz drummer at a music conservatory. Apparently, the director is a big jazz fan. La La Land gets four stars for its acting, plot, direction, cinematography and all of those neat little things Hollywood gives awards for. Unfortunately, the music is not as rewarding. The jazz, pop, show tunes, and instrumentals - all composed by Justin Hurwitz who also worked with Ch...